Adjacent Words

Pitiable definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

PIT'IABLE, a. Deserving pity; worthy of compassion; miserable; as pitiable persons; a pitiable condition.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: inspiring mixed contempt and pity; "their efforts were pathetic"; "pitiable lack of character"; "pitiful exhibition of cowardice" [syn: pathetic, pitiable, pitiful]
2: deserving or inciting pity; "a hapless victim"; "miserable victims of war"; "the shabby room struck her as extraordinarily pathetic"- Galsworthy; "piteous appeals for help"; "pitiable homeless children"; "a pitiful fate"; "Oh, you poor thing"; "his poor distorted limbs"; "a wretched life" [syn: hapless, miserable, misfortunate, pathetic, piteous, pitiable, pitiful, poor, wretched]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Date: 15th century 1. deserving or exciting pity ; lamentable <pitiable victims> 2. of a kind to evoke mingled pity and contempt especially because of inadequacy <a pitiable excuse> Synonyms: see contemptible • pitiableness noun • pitiably adverb

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. 1 deserving or causing pity. 2 contemptible. Derivatives: pitiableness n. pitiably adv. Etymology: ME f. OF piteable, pitoiable (as PITY)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Pitiable Pit"i*a*ble, a. [Cf. OF. pitiable, F. pitoyable.] Deserving pity; wworthy of, or exciting, compassion; miserable; lamentable; piteous; as, pitiable persons; a pitiable condition; pitiable wretchedness. Syn: Sorrowful; woeful; sad. See Piteous. -- Pit"i*a*ble*ness, n. -- Pit"i*a*bly, adv.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Someone who is pitiable is in such a sad or weak state that you feel pity for them. (WRITTEN) Her grandmother seemed to her a pitiable figure. = pitiful ADJ • pitiably Their main grievance was that they had not received their pitiably low pay... She found Frances lying on the bed crying pitiably. = pitifully ADV: ADV with v, ADV adj

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. Deplorable, wretched, lamentable, miserable, piteous, deserving pity, to be pitied.